Osteochondral defects are combination lesions of the bone and cartilage. Particularly, osteochondral defects affect the joints, such as the knee, ankle, shoulder, and elbow, and include lesions to both the articular cartilage and underlying subchondral bone. Treatment options include filling the defect with a bone or cartilage filler, as well as allograft or autograph transplantation of cells/tissue.
Current void filling devices include hydrogels, sponges, scaffolds, and cements. The limitation with these devices, however, is that they are single phase. Single phase void fillers cannot cater to the needs of a void having more than one tissue type. Solid layered plugs have also been utilized to fill voids; however, these plugs may leave gaps between the tissue and the implanted device.
It would be advantageous to provide a biphasic, or multiphasic, plug tailored to specific tissue types by customizing the physical properties of each phase to accommodate the biomechanical properties of each tissue type, as well as optimizing the biochemical compatibility of each phase to its respective tissue type to favor growth and repair of the distinct tissues.